What Causes Cancer Gallbladder?: A Review

Gallbladder cancer is a common malignancy of the biliary tract. It is the fifth common malignancy of the gastrointestinal tract in United States [1] and third in Northern India [2]. Despite such high prevalence, there is scanty published literature about this disease in indexed journals. Therefore, this article is intended to provide a brief overview of gallbladder cancer risk factors, based mainly on published evidence from analytical epidemiology and recent research findings of biologists and practising oncologists. Furthermore, an attempt has been made to establish an association between different causative factors and the occurrence of the disease

Estimating above Ground Tree Biomass of Semi-Arid Bundelkhand Region Using Satellite Data, Regression Modelling and ANN Technique

Remotely sensed satellite imagery can be used to classify and monitor vegetation dynamics (Tucker, 1979). The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) computed from satellite data is a good measure of photosynthetic activity at landscape scales, and can be used to estimate vegetation biomass and Net Primary Production (NPP) (Tucker, 1979; Myneni et al., 1995, Nemani et al., 2003). As in the present environmental condition the climate change has adversely affected the ecosystem and the forest cover, NDVI has an important role to play to track and quantify the change taking place in plant ecosystem process (Myneni et al., 1995, Nemani et al., 2003). Biomass estimation using NDVI is easy to implement, harvesting of trees is not required and also effectively reduce the time and cost required in case of any other estimation process. In this study regression models and ANN (Artificial Neural Network) model were tried to simulate and predict total biomass production from different districts of Bundelkhand region. NDVI values collected from remote sensing images at particular season of the year to characterize above ground biomass of the study area. The performance of the ANN model was compared with several other commonly used linear and nonlinear models and validation was done based on the model’s stability

Electrophoretic manipulation of multiple-emulsion droplets

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.In this report the electrophoretic manipulation of structured oil-water-oil (O/W)/O core-shell droplets is presented. Water shells have been created that allow the electrophoretic manipulation of oil droplets in an oil environment. It was found that the inner droplet regardless of size and composition does not affect the electrophoretic mobility of the outer water shell, neither before nor after contact with a biased electrode. This method can be used for the manipulation of oil droplets in a continuous oil phase or for the transportation of microbial cells that would otherwise be killed at low electric field strengths

Remote Sensing and GIS based approach in Morphometric analysis of Birma River Basin (Central India)

Birma river basin lies between two states of India (Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh). The parameters of Morphometric analysis were measured as Stream Order, Drainage Density, Stream Frequency, Bifurcation Ratio, Elongation Ratio, etc. Digital Elevation Model is downloaded from the USGS website. The results show that the Basin ranges from dendritic to sub-dendritic and is heterogeneous in texture and structurally controlled. The stream order ranges from first order to sixth order and the drainage density and elongation ratio is 1.23 and 0.59 respectively which specified that the basin is elongated in shape. The bifurcation ratio varies from 2.67 to 9.0 indicating that the basin has undulating topography. The analysis is contributed to understand watershed management sites for the conservation of soil and water. Assessment of these parameters ultimately gives information for the arrangement of sustainable water resource development and its management for the local people residing nearby the river.   Keywords: Birma River Basin, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Geographical Information System (GIS), Morphometric analysis, Remote Sensin

Identification and Characterization of Pastureland and Other Grazing Resources of Jammu & Kashmir Using GIS and Satellite Remote Sensing Technique

Livestock acquires special importance in mountain farming system from both ecological and socioeconomic point of view. They are an integral part of the farming system and a “bridge’’ connecting two types of land viz., forest and cultivated. In hilly regions, the arable agriculture is not very remunerative; therefore farmers of all categories rear sheep, goats, cattle etc. under sedentary, semi-migratory and migratory systems to supplement family income (Dev et al., 2014). The common property resources (CPR) and degraded pasturelands are the major feed sources. Remotely sensed satellite imagery and Geographic Information System (GIS) are being widely used for the assessment of pasturelands and estimation of forage availability as well as monitoring of the range resources (Singh et al., 2011). Since, the grazing resources are limited and natural grasslands are becoming scarcer, there is a greater need to effectively manage grasslands for optimum forage production and eco-development (Roy and Singh, 2013). Precise information on extent, condition and forage availability is essential for developmental planning. In the present study information on current status of pasturelands in Jammu and Kashmir based on remotely sensed satellite data and GIS/GPS is carried out

Zero Energy Overwinter Storage of Apple Nursery Plants in trans-Himalayan Ladakh, India

Studies were conducted during 2015 and 2016 to assess the effects of storage conditions on survival of nursery plants in trans-Himalayan Ladakh region. Apple nursery plants raised under warm climatic conditions of Solan (Himachal) were lifted from nurseries in first week of January and stored upto March in cold Ladakh region. Underground cellar-stored plants showed significantly higher plant survival (92 to 94%) than greenhouse-stored plants (37 to 56% survival). Low and constant temperature (-1.5±4.1 to 10.0±1.4ºC) and absence of light inside the cellar were favorable factors for storage of nursery plants. Lower survival rates of greenhouse-stored plants could be attributed to lower and greater fluctuations in temperature (-9.3±1.7to 25.1±1.9ºC) inside the greenhouse. Cellar-stored plants were less subjected to freezing injury as reflected from shoot electrolyte leakage studies. The underground cellar was found effective for overwinter storage of apple nursery plants for 3 to 4 months. The method described is easy and cost-effective, and can be a satisfactory alternative to refrigerated cold storage in trans-Himalayan region with severe winters.

Characterization and Mapping of Halophyte Vegetation Using GIS and Remote Sensing Technique in Kachchh Plane of Gujarat, India

One of the pressures of a burgeoning population is need to increase agricultural production through both irrigated agriculture and the development of land that was previously regarded as marginal. About 8.56 m ha land in India is affected by salt. Out of this, about 1.2 m ha land is in Gujarat which is next to Uttar Pradesh (1.295 m ha). Kachchh, the second largest district of the country, has more than 53% of the total geographical area under Ranns (salt-marshy lands). The soil salinity in this region ranges from 3.2 to 32 EC and sodicity from 8.0 to 10.0 pH. The animal husbandry is the major livelihood option of the people of the Banni grassland of this region having an area of about 625 km2. Halophyte grown under the saline ecosystem is the major wild forage source for the animals feed. However, the animals feed mostly on wild forage halophytes grown under the saline ecosystem. Apart from natural salinity, a significant proportion of recently cultivated agricultural land has become saline owing to faulty irrigation practices; this secondary salinization poses direct loss to the crop production. The commercial agriculture now prevalent in the region exploits ground water heavily and encroaches upon grass lands. Heavy grazing pressure on the vegetation including wild halophytes is direct threat to the valuable natural biodiversity of the region. Very meager information on systematic characterization of vegetation in this region is available (Pandya and Sidha, 1987 and GUIDE, 1998). Halophytes have tolerance mechanisms that include ions compartmentalization, and compatible solutes. However, the mechanisms of salt tolerance in these species are not fully understood and not much work is reported in the literature. Halophytes have great potential either for direct agricultural crops uses in saline areas or for the incorporation of their characteristics into existing crop species. They may be useful for grazing or fodder or as ornamental plants and have recently been advocated as a source of oils

Age related histological and histochemical studies on the testis of Aseel and Vanaraja breeds of poultry

Birds (10) of 2 age group, viz. 5 months (grower) and 13 months (adult) of Aseel and Vanaraja breeds of poultry were used. The thickness of tunica albuginea, maximum and minimum diameter of seminiferous tubules, diameter of primary spermatocytes and number of sustentacular cells or Sertoli cells per seminiferous tubule were significantly higher in growers and adults of Vanaraja than Aseel whereas, number of interstitial cells per field were significantly higher in growers and adults of Aseel than Vanaraja. The density of connective tissue fibers, PAS activity and AB-PAS activity was more in both groups of Vanaraja than Aseel